Eli's Tale
by DracosDemon
Summary: Eli tells you her story, about what happened to Oscar and how she was 'changed' in 18th Century France


Eli's Story

**Author's note:** This story was written to 'fill in' the historical gap behind Eli, the young vampire in John Ajvide Lindqvist's novel 'Let the Right One In'. This novel was made into a sub-titled Swedish film (2008) by the same name (which you should see) and the movie is one of the best vampire films I've seen in a long time.

It deals more with themes of friendship, bullying, family, love and trust and is 'gritty' in a realistic way, without the dramatic sword fights and explosions and buckets of blood that you normally see in such films. You can read this story as it is by all means, but give the film/novel a go first if you can. It's worth a watch/read and will add a LOT of details regarding the characters in this story.

I have based this story on the film **ONLY**, as I have not had the chance to get a copy of the book yet, so this story may differ **GREATLY** from the original novel.

**DISCLAIMER: **I sadly did NOT write 'Let the Right One In' and do not know John Ajvide Lindqvist. This story is merely a work of fan-fiction based on his original novel.

Before I begin…before I start to tell you all about me, there are two things you must know. Firstly, I can not be your friend. Secondly, I am not a girl.

I don't know how many times I have said that to people…how many times I've looked into their eyes and spoken those words. I can see their faces, read their expressions, and each time I say it I feel sad inside. It's like an ache in my tummy, a dull pain that throbs inside me like a living thing as I try to push them away from me. I saw that same look in your eyes when I said it to you. The expression in your face is easy for me to read and before I've even finished speaking these words, I feel my throat close up and water gather in the corners of my eyes.

This will not be easy for me, so you'll have to give me time. It is not what I want, but it has to be that way…for both our sakes.

When you look at me I do know what you think and I know what you see. You see a dark haired girl of twelve years old, a pale complexion and large soulful dark brown eyes. You see a slim girl yet to embrace womanhood, a full mouth and high cheek-bones. If you see me in the street at night you wonder how my parents could be so thoughtless. If you see me in the corner shop late in the evening you assume I'm running an errand for someone. If you see me sitting in a dark alley you see me as an orphan or a run-away, a poor child running endlessly from some trauma or brutal family.

You see all of those things and you think all of those things but, in truth, you see nothing. You know nothing. The only thing you see that IS true, the one thing many people have confided in me, is that I look sad. I can hide many things about me, but that is the one thing that I can not hide. It is the one thing that everyone sees.

In truth I AM a twelve year old girl…I feel like I am twelve and I have the curiosity and attitude of a girl that age too. I like pop music and fashion. I will watch television all night long if I get the chance and I will buy clothes off the internet. I've been doing that for nearly ten years now. I download music, I own my own iPod and I go on chat rooms and talk to real twelve year olds. I love the smell of Ben and Jerry's ice cream, even though I can not eat it. I LOVE sitting in the cinema watching the latest movies on a Saturday night. My name is Elizabeth, but you can call me Eli.

I was born in France in the year 1772. I am really a 237 year old girl. I have been a twelve year old since 1784. There…I've said it. That is part of my terrible secret…one of the things I hate most about myself. Some girls hate their figures. Others hate their hair or the shape of their noses. I hate the fact that I will ALWAYS be a twelve year old…and that I have to drink human blood.

Now I can see that your mind is flooding with shocked questions. There is a lot you want me to answer. Behind the thin veil of your disbelief, you want me to tell you more about myself. Like I said, this is not easy for me…for me to do this I have to remember things…pull up painful memories from my past.

Before meeting you, my last real friend was Oscar. He was twelve too and we both lived in Sweden in the early 1980s. At first I told him what I told you…that I could not be his friend and that I was not really a girl. I meant what I said, I really did, but at times I get…get so lonely.

Oscar was all alone. I could see that from the very beginning. It was a curse we both shared, a thing we had in common. Yes, he lived with his mother in the apartment, but he was still all alone in so many ways. He could never tell her about the bullies at his school. That is why I had to do something about it in the end. His father saw him as a 'duty'…something he had to deal with in the form of irregular visits. It struck me that in some ways, we were both orphans. I WAS determined not to come into his life at the start, but the night he gave me the Rubik's cube was the night I made my decision. I could be alone no longer.

Yes, I had Hakan. He moved my things into the apartment in the first place. Hakan was a man in his fifties at this point in time and was a predator in his own right. His personal tastes were even more unsavoury than mine. We were not real friends though…not in the same way as Oscar and I. Hakan and I had an 'arrangement'. That was all there was to it. When he died I WAS sad…I really was, but he had become ever more reckless in the last ten years of his life. I had met the disgraced school-teacher years earlier when he was homeless. I had money, but I needed the services of an adult. There are many things a twelve year old girl can't do in this world…legal and financial matters that need dealing with. No, I found many aspects of Hakan distasteful, but he was loyal. That is as far as it went.

With Oscar it was all different. Despite this, I knew how it would end. We ran away after I killed the school bullies…we ran far away and he looked after me well. By the time he was sixteen our relationship started to change. After all, I DO look like a normal twelve year old…the romance came to an end as Oscar's mind changed perspective with age. I always knew this would happen. He would not remain twelve forever. This knowledge didn't stop me crying for weeks on end. I locked myself away and refused to see him for six months and wished that I could have the guts to kill myself.

Hakan had always found me fresh blood in the past and Oscar took over this role. We were careful who we picked and I tried to prey on those who were criminals. I always regretted the incident with the man from Oscar's town, the one whose wife I changed. That was an accident. I read about her 'spontaneous combustion' in the newspaper a few days later. After the man tracked me down to the flat and tried to kill me while I slept in the bath tub, I knew we had to run away. I HAD tried to leave without Oscar earlier on…I really did, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I was just too weak.

I know you want to know what happened to Oscar, I can tell. Well, he is nearly forty years old now and is a doctor. I paid for him to go to university in England and he graduated in the 1990s. When he was in his 20s he met someone, a girl his own age. Again, I knew this would happen…it was inevitable. They married and had children, who look older than I do now. I DID go away for several years after that…the pain was too great. I am glad he is happy, but it had to end that way. The more I kept him with me, the more I was hurting him. We even posed as father and daughter for a while, but this was a short-term measure. Now we are back in contact and he supplies me with blood from his hospital every time I visit London. I think he will always be my friend and this makes me very happy. I still have his Rubik's cube.

I know you want me to tell you about my earlier life…my life when I was a real person…before I became the way I am now. I think I know you well enough. We have reached the same stage as I did with Oscar…where I trust you enough to tell you everything…

To be continued!


End file.
